Difference between muskmelon and cantelope?

[edweather]

Can someone please point me in the right direction for a resource that simply describes the difference between a muskmelon and a cantaloupe. Thanks, Ed

[Rockoe10]

Muskmelon is the higher classification of Cantaloupe. There are many melon varieties under the name muskmelon. Honeydew is a muskmelon.

I suppose you could look at it this way. What is the difference between a Tomato and a Roma? Roma is just a determinate plum tomato (in most cases)

[mikestuff49]

I think when I was a kid we grew "muskmelons", but I'm pretty sure they were cantaloupes. Maybe an Ozarks thing.

[pondgardener]

[mention]edweather[/mention] Here is a link that has a picture of a muskmelon and cantaloupe.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mu ... cantaloupe

[peebee]

What would be an example of European cantaloupe that is available here in the US?

[edweather]

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated.

[Shule]

It depends on the definitions you use. I like the definition that says muskmelon is entirely synonymous with Cucumis melo, and that cantaloupes are the sort of muskmelon breeds they call cantaloupe in the grocery store. True cantaloupes are breeds like Charentais, though, but in practice few people (in my area, anyhow) who know the word cantaloupe even know such as Charantais melons exist.

So, yeah, cantaloupes, honeydews, and many other melons are muskmelons. Some people have other definitions for muskmelon.

[karstopography]

IMG_6805.jpeg

My one and by the looks of it only muskmelon for 2024. Honeyrock. Sure smells good. Slipped right off the vine so that takes the guess work out of when to pick.

I have two watermelons. One I picked maybe a couple days early, but it sure was good. Better a little early than late with a watermelon. One more out there, Sangria. Can’t seem to grow them to full size, though. I don’t know if it about the amount of light or fertilizer. Still, they taste great.

[Paulf]

This is what the definition’s always were as I remember it: cantaloupe are a European melon that are rarely sold in the U.S. Almost every melon sold in the U.S. are actually muskmelons, but due to marketing people not liking the name “muskmelon” began calling the American versions cantaloupe because it sounded more pleasing. The name stuck so we all buy and even grow cantaloupes. The process is much like the marketing people decided tomatoes need to be round, red and tasteless, to fit what is grown on commercial tomato farms. My father and his family always called the melons they grew and we all ate, “muskmelons”. As a grocer when selling produce we always sold cantaloupe not muskmelons. We Joined in the misnomer.

[JRinPA]

This is what the definition’s always were as I remember it: cantaloupe are a European melon that are rarely sold in the U.S. Almost every melon sold in the U.S. are actually muskmelons, but due to marketing people not liking the name “muskmelon” began calling the American versions cantaloupe because it sounded more pleasing. The name stuck so we all buy and even grow cantaloupes. The process is much like the marketing people decided tomatoes need to be round, red and tasteless, to fit what is grown on commercial tomato farms. My father and his family always called the melons they grew and we all ate, “muskmelons”. As a grocer when selling produce we always sold cantaloupe not muskmelons. We Joined in the misnomer.

Yes, Cantaloupe sounds better. If you can't beat em, join em. Who would eat an aubergine, that sounds terrible.

[Shule]

@JRinPA
Reminds me of how when I saw the word carotenoid, I naturally thought of a pronunciation like keratin+oid (yes, I know it's not related to keratin; I'm just demonstrating the pronunciation I was thinking), but then I heard an AI assistant pronounce it with rot accented (pronounced like the word rot), and I wasn't pleased at all with that.

Interestingly, though, I have no qualms with the word muskmelon, even though I'm not a big fan of cologne. It's probably because I like reptiles (and was familiar with seeing pictures of musk turtles as a child). That and I think abstractly with that word, I suppose.

[JRinPA]

looks like carrot annoyed to me. But yeah with rot sound, so care rot annoyed. But I've never heard it used, read it until now, or heard a robot say it aloud. Just the way it looks to me.

[JRinPA]

Now if cantaloupe is a french word, there is that part too, we eat beef not ox, we eat pork not hog, we eat venison, not deer. The saxon serfs raised it in English, but the norman lords served it in French. Certainly muskmelon sounds like straight up English and cantaloupe sounds fancy French. Then again aubergine sounds french...exceptions must be made.

[karstopography]

Courgette=Zucchini
Aubergine=Eggplant
Cantaloupe is a specific kind of Muskmelon.

https://www.mashed.com/386433/heres-the ... antaloupe/

[JRinPA]

So what is muskmelon in french? Not the translation melon musky or whatever but what is the group of muskmelons called, in french?

[JRinPA]

For melons (white muskmelon, hami melon and watermelon), pineapple, pitaya, nectarine and loquat, the CAA was too low to be measured.

Les melons (cantaloup blanc, melon de Hami et pastèque), l'ananas, la pitaya, la nectarine et le néflier du Japon ont donné des valeurs de CAA trop faibles pour être mesurées.


The cucumber(Cucumis sativus)is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon.

Le concombre (Cucumis sativus) est une plante largement cultivée dans les cucurbitacées de famille de courge, qui incluent la courge, et dans le même genre que le cantaloup.

Looks that is saying cantaloup is french for muskmelon.

[karstopography]

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cucumis-melo/

All Cucumis melo it seems.

Charentais Melon, is a french Cantaloupe.

https://www.saveur.com/charentais-melon-cavaillon/

Their fans are dedicated and at times famous. In 1864, in exchange for copies of his published works, Alexandre Dumas (author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, among other classics) requested 12 melons a year for life. He enjoyed a total of 72 perfectly ripe Cavaillon melons before his death in 1870.

I think the link above is written from the perspective of a francophile foodie more than anything else.